Tuesday, February 12, 2013

motor(bike+boat)ing

i had a few dreams last night. most seem to have disintegrated into images/short scenes that flashback into my head, but with no interconnection. i can only distinctly remember one.

it was early evening. i was biking around the colony on my karizma. except that my colony was in the state it was around 20 years ago. a lot less buildings, and a lot more plots overgrown with mango trees. while i was riding down one street, a young lad (must be 15 or so) waved me to stop, and told me he's late, and would be grateful if i could give him a lift. since i was just riding aimlessly, i obliged. he wanted to go to borivli east, but for some reason i rode down link road. we reached this one junction, which doesn't look familiar to me now. the sky was painted with the hues of a vivid sunset (although the sun was nowhere to be seen). i took a right turn off link road, and went the wrong way down a one way street. i then took a u-turn,stopped next to a bus that was waiting at that signal, and told him i've changed my mind, and that he should take that bus instead. he thanked me, and took that bus.

and then suddenly, it was late morning (yeah, some sort of time hop in the dream, i guess). i was riding again, this time with my brother pillion. he had to reach some college in SoBo for an interview. and had exactly an hour to get there.

on the way, i told him it's very irritating that he delayed and then forced me to reach him because he was late. we were figuring the way to south bombay while riding. apparently, there were only two ways across: the sea link, or a ferry across. we decided to take the ferry. it was a really short distance of sea that had to be covered, barely 500 metres from the looks of it. the pier at the end we were at looked like the one at gorai creek (only, a lot narrower and shorter). also, both sides were overgrown with mangroves, with a small clearing near the jetty on either side. the water right next to the pier was more like sludge (i guess everything about the jetty was exactly like the one at gorai creek).

except for two differences:

the boat was *tiny*. and by tiny, i mean enough for maybe 10 people to sit, or two bikes (as opposed to the regular gorai ferry, which carries around 100 people, and sometimes even 20 bikes!).

and to get to the boat, we had to cross through floating rickshaws, bobbing in the water. seriously.

the floating rickshaws were already occupied, and i had to pass by from one side to the other, past people who were sitting inside. my bike wouldn't fit into the rickshaws, so i had to dismantle the bike, and carry it in a black coloured sack, through the rickshaws, into the ferry. i was surprised that the bag was so easy to carry.

my brother and i sat in the boat, and it sped off to the other side. the pier on the other side looked like the one i've seen at rewas (a beach near alibaug). it had a roof, and broad pillars, and the boat had to go under the roof till the actual landing point. the roof and pillars were covered with seaweed, barnacles and dried muck, as if the sea rose to cover them during high tide.

the boat stopped, we alighted, and i opened the sack to reassemble the bike. that's when i realized why it was so light: only the fairing, headlight, and front mudguard were in the sack! also, the parts looked like they were from my previous bike, the black pulsar. since the rest of the bike was forgotten on the other side, i had to make another trip across.

strangely, the boatman refused to take the boat across, claiming he had some urgent work he had to attend to. so despite my protests, he started the engine, and leapt off the boat onto the pier.

that's when i realized the boat had no controls whatsoever, other than an ignition switch. and it was currently pointed the way we came: along the pier, pointing straight at the land a few hundred feet ahead. and heading toward it at full throttle (there was no throttle to speak of, to begin with!)

in my panic, i tried leaning, to see if that affected the boat. and it did. the boat started turning away from the pier. i banked hard, and took the turn, almost like a bike leaning into a curve. and so, i was pointed back to the starting point of the ferry, on a boat that was racing at full throttle.

i leaned around, to get the feel of the boat's handling. leaned backward, and the boat surged forward even faster. it felt exhilarating!

that's when i realized, i was almost where the jetty started, zipping along at an insane speed. and i hadn't figured how to stop.

i did the only thing i hadn't tried yet: held on tight to the bow of the boat, and leaned forward as much as i could without somersaulting the boat over the front.

it worked. the boat slowed down, and it looked like i won't crash into the mangroves looming ahead after all.